This work provides an insight into the external costs associated with ships which had been berthed in four Spanish ports before COVID-19 was on the agenda. Firstly, on a port-by-port level and by individual vessel types, as this can also provide valuable insights. The economic valuation is based on the combination of the significant bottom-up European studies which follow the impact pathway approach (IPA) to calculating costs from transport air emissions. Our results showed higher total external costs for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (€74.4 m), followed by Tenerife (€20 m), Palma de Mallorca (€19.5 m) and Pasaia (€1.5 m). The external costs by shipping subsectors give more insights into the relationships between ship types and external costs. This has been done to correctly assign the responsibilities among the different shipping sectors inside a port and to better understand the potential benefits of implementing abatement technologies, such as cold ironing. Potential benefits from cold ironing were found to differ hugely among the different ports analysed.
Keywords: Air quality; Cold ironing; Emissions from berthed ships; Environmental costs; Port city.
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